Forever
by Arksendis
Summary: It's been a while since he's left. Since he left to search for his fairy. Since he left me. This is the story of a battered Hero who returned home...only to slowly bleed out in my arms. COMPLETE!


**First oneshot! Hope you all enjoy...**

I watch as he goes, silent as ever. He's leaving me…Hyrule…and all its inhabitants behind. I don't know why. Why would he go now? Is it the thrill of adventure?

I half want to chase after him, but I can't. The burden of royalty makes me stay, rooted to the ground as he flies above me, oblivious to my pain. He's going so slowly. Riding away into the fog as if he has all the time in the world. He's searching for his fairy, yes, but there's something else. Something different.

He may be just a boy, but he has an old soul. It's obvious. I want to reach out, right now. If I walk briskly, and with a purpose, I can catch up. I can catch him. But…some things aren't meant to be. I still have time, maybe if I play the Ocarina, he'll come back. He'll realize that I need him.

But he doesn't look back. He rides into the fog, until it completely envelopes him. My breathing is ragged as a cold, harsh tear trickles down my face. He went into the fog…and is now gone. Obscured from my vision. And not literally, either…

Days fly by.

Oft times I only smile to stop the tears.

In a haze, I am hardly aware of the concern expressed towards me, of the love displayed. I am cared for. I am loved. But I'm missing a part of me. Ever since he left…and he hasn't returned. He promised he would…one day.

But he does, eventually. But the day he returns to me…is the day he dies.

I sit, idly stirring a bowl of oatmeal while staring out the window into the sun's rays rising over the horizon. Is he out there? Is he having fun? Is he meeting others? Maybe…someone else to satisfy his heart?

I feel tears threaten my eyes again, but instead my sorrows are interrupted by commotion beneath me. I get up and place a lilac robe upon me, wearing the same dress I have every day since he's left.

I drag my feet down the stairs, almost tripping but catching the banister half-heartedly as I tumble. I straighten myself and walk regally down the rest of the stairs. At the foot, four soldiers appear to be struggling with something, dragging something down through the stone corridor. One cries out in pain, and as he withdraws his hand a small bite mark appears on his palm, just breaking the skin.

"Men, may I ask what you're doing?" I stare at the one who was bitten, and he turns to me with a bow.

"Excuse me, your highness, but we have a commoner here who appeared to have attacked a villager. We are sorry for disturbing you, princess," the man bows low, but I can't catch a glimpse of who the commoner is.

"I didn't!" the commoner shouts. A young boy? But as soon as he speaks, my hopes are dashed. He doesn't speak. He's mute.

"We saw what you did," another soldier hisses into the circle. "Now tell us who you were fighting!"

"It wasn't me—it was my shadow!"

The soldier from earlier steps back and delivers a strong punch into the circle of squabbling men. The boy is putting up a mighty fight…

I let it continue for a little longer, curiosity rising inside of me. "Let him go."

The leader looks up at me, shocked. "But, your majesty, with all due respect—"

"I said let him go, did I not?" I glare daggers at him, and he hastily orders his men to let go of the boy.

The boy doesn't collapse in a heap like I expect him to. Instead, he glares defiantly at the soldiers. Only then do I realize…green tunic, sandy hair, pure blue eyes…only one is missing. I frown at the scars around one of his eyes.

"Link!" I race forwards only to find myself blocked by a soldier's hand.

"I'm sorry, princess, but I cannot allow you to proceed any further," the leader says calmly. "This boy is a threat to the people of Castle Town—"

"He is the Hero of Time, for Farore's sake!" I shout, my anxiety and sorrows suddenly overflowing. "Unhand me, fiend, or I will escort you myself to the dungeons!"

The soldier frowns at my outburst, but stays in control as he slowly withdraws his hand. I rush towards Link, and help him up, but he stiffens.

"Who…are you?" Link asks in a whispery voice. I choke on a sob. Does he not know me? Was his adventure so long that he's forgotten me? Or have I just grown up?

"I…Link, you don't remember me?" Now the tears are welling up in my eyes, and I find it hard to breathe. "Link, please…"

"I—" Link seems to choke on something, and doubles over, coughing harshly. It's a violent sound, rising from his chest and throwing itself from his throat.

The next moments are in a haze.

Link coughs up a clot of blood, which lands on the carpet and lies there, oozing into the fibers. I stare at it for a moment before one of the soldiers summon a healer.

He is taken away, and I am ushered back to my room, but I follow him. Link is the only one I care about right now. He is led through the twisting passageways of the castle until set on a bed. The door is locked behind him, and I am unable to see where he is. I sit against the far wall, anxiously bouncing my legs up and down. What happened to him?

The door bursts open and a sweaty, exhausted healer comes forth. "He's in the hands of the goddesses now…I'm sorry princess, but there's nothing more we can do."

Shock and fear pull at me suddenly and I shiver uncontrollably as I barge past the healer and into the room. Link is on a bed with sheets of the deepest maroon…almost like blood…

Until I realize it _is_ blood. _Link's_ blood. The sheets are supposed to be white, save for a few corners. He is covered in bandages, but even then his wounds splutter more profusely. The moment his watery blue eye catches sight of me, he sits up abruptly, sliding his feet over the bed. His green tunic has been stained beyond repair, and he stumbles and falls at the foot of his bed, successfully dislodging the other bandages. All the other healers have evacuated the room.

"Link…" I kneel down, salty tears making my voice shake. I sit down and cradle his head in my lap, and to my horror something wet and sticky drips through my dress. His blood…

"Z…Zelda…" he shakes with the small movement of bringing his hand to my cheek. His fingers caress my skin, and I don't move them away. "Please…play…the song…"

Something cold and round is being pressed into my hand. I glance at the Ocarina of Time, and start playing the familiar melody of my lullaby. Link visibly relaxes, and he stares into my eyes as if committing them to memory. Maybe he is. I stop it on the high notes as he sighs and leans back into me.

"Zelda…I won't make it back," his voice is a tiny whisper, and I have to lean closer. A small trickle of blood runs out the side of his mouth. "Thank you…so much…"

"No! Link! You're not leaving again!" I cry, bringing him closer to my body, until I share my warmth.

"I'm not leaving for good, Zelda…" Link's voice cracks as the ghost of a smile appears on his face. "We'll meet again, promise. I…lo…"

His head lolls and he slumps in my arms, his eye staring blankly at a spot over my shoulder. The tears flow freely now as his small body shudders then becomes still. I cry out his name, but he doesn't respond. I hug him close to me. Grief is tearing me apart, piece by piece. I can't hold on any longer.

"Link…I love you too," I say, my voice hoarse. "And I always will."

Then an unearthly screech rips free of my throat.

 _Later…_

I pick it up from the desk. I brush off the dust on the cover. I've been dreading opening it; ever since the night he died, the night I lost the other half of myself…

I steel myself and open it. Some entries are too smudged to read, but I can see important parts.

 _Three._

 _The salesman taught me the Song of Healing. I've returned to my true self. Tatl seems to actually care for me now, and I can feel my own growing affection. But she's not Navi._

 _I have to find Majora's Mask. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but when I'm alone…I think of her. Of how I left her. I don't regret my decision, but I regret the things I had to leave behind. Every night I think of her. And every night I play her song. Tatl always asks who she is, but I stay silent._

 _Sixteen._

 _Mikau and Lulu have made me wish of what we could've had—love. Although it wasn't on the surface, they obviously loved each other. Only, Mikau died. His spirit is still within the mask, though, and I half want to rid of it. But my friend is in it._

 _And there's…her, again. She's stuck in Hyrule while I have another adventure. But it's a three day cycle, and kind of lonely when everyone forgets your face as you play the Song of Time…the moon is still above me, and I ought to get going. It's almost dawn of the third day._

 _Twenty-four._

 _Not sure if I can write in this often. Too many events. But I can't stop thinking about her. I need to be with her…I need to feel her touch. Every time it sends fire through me, something I've never experienced before._

The next page is stained with blood, and I can hardly make it out. I curse the forces that has made his writings illegible.

 _Thirty-seven._

 _I think I'm dying._

 _Tatl has left, to go with Tael and the Skull Kid. Or Stalkid. I was hit in the eye…with something. I can't see out of it. A wound in my stomach looks bad. But I need to get out of Termina…I need to get back to Hyrule. To her. But I sense something else…my shadow. He's going to do something to me, something terrible…_

 _Forty-four._

 _I prep for the ceremony. I know I might not make it out alive. But I think of her, I whistle her lullaby, I breathe in the long-lost scent of her flowery clothes on the Ocarina. I wish I could have properly said goodbye. But I didn't. And now I regret it. I regret it with all my heart._

 _How ironic is it to have the Triforce of Courage and not tell her that I love her?_

 _She can never be replaced._

 _So, in my writings, even if I can't say it aloud to her face, I must say…Zelda…I love you._

I choke back a sob as I envision his face, his blond hair cascading down the sides of his smooth skin, floppy green hat folded against the breeze. His crystal blue eyes stare at me…then again, he's lost one. As I read the entries, a small spark of hope fills me.

The Hero of Time is now dead.

But Link will live forever.

Clasping the diary close to my chest, I face the window, where the light of a new dawn awaits me. I let a small smile creep onto my face as I face the new Hyrule, the daunting one. I won't see him again in this lifetime…

…but perhaps in another.


End file.
